After a week of negotiations, the Open Working Group concluded its thirteenth session on Saturday 19th July and adopted a final proposal for the Sustainable Development Goals of the Post-2015 Agenda, which will be presented for consideration at the next United Nations General Assembly in September 2014.
The report gives Global Taskforce partners a number of reasons to celebrate. The first is the inclusion of Goal 11: “Make Cities and Human Settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”. This is an important achievement and testament to the successful advocacy of among others, the Global Taskforce and its partners throughout 2013.
Read the HIGHLIGHTS and CHANGES to Goal 11 since the revised draft was circulated two weeks ago
Next steps
The reinforced collaboration between the global organizations of local and regional governments through the Global Taskforce, the close partnership with UN-Habitat and the support of Cities Alliance and the Group of Friends of Sustainable Cities have been valuable and will hopefully continue in the coming years, leading up to Habitat III.
Contributing to the SDGs and the Post-2015 processes through multiple channels has allowed for the cross-fertilization of ideas between UCLG’s members and partners and will contribute to building a joint position for the sustainable development agenda process and for Habitat III.
In addition, the links built with different partners in the outreach groups, the thematic consultations and the HLP have been key steps in building a wider coalition to ensure the recognition and support of local actors in development as these debates go forward. In particular, Local and Regional Governments are developing and strengthening links with Civil Society Organizations, which are key partners of the sustainable development policies at local level.
Read more : UN sustainable development
Source: www.gtf2016.org
